Digitisation Unit Lead (DiSSCo UK)

About us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 1100 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

This role is specifically working as part of the Distributed System of Scientific Collections UK programme.

UK natural science collections hold more than 140 million items. These are an unrivalled source of data about how the Earth and its natural systems formed over 4.56 billion years, with the potential to support research that addresses some of the critical issues facing the world, including biodiversity and climate change. They contain evidence of the changes in the natural world including the impact of human life on our planet over the past few thousand years. The scientific, commercial, and societal benefits of these collections are currently constrained by the limits of physical access, and by highly fragmented digitisation efforts with less than 10% digitally available.

DiSSCo UK is a consortium of UK natural science collections, led by the Natural History Museum in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), who are developing a national infrastructure to support the digitisation and use of the UK's natural science collections to support this critical research.

This will take the form of a 10-year programme focused on digitisation of critical mass of collections as FAIR data, made available through a well-supported backbone of technology infrastructure, with continued development and application of innovative approaches such as greater use of Artificial Intelligence and robotics. Investment of the order of £155m over ten years from 2026-27 is expected to unlock at least a four-fold economic return on investment, as well as efficiency savings for UK and global researchers, and the potential for research innovation and studies that have not previously been possible - underpinning a future in which both people and planet thrive.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

DiSSCo UK is seeking an experienced and inspirational Digitisation Team Unit Lead to oversee digitisation operations, deliver strategic objectives, and support the development of a high-performing team contributing to the UK's natural science collections infrastructure.

The Unit Lead will provide sectional technical and people leadership for digitisation and collection preparation activities, ensuring projects are delivered efficiently, safely, and to a high standard. You will work across institutional teams and external partners to drive innovation, improve workflows, and deliver impactful outcomes that support research, conservation, and public engagement.

This role is based within the Museum's Digital, Data and Informatics (DDI) Department and reports to the DiSSCo UK Operations Team Lead.

This is a fixed term role until 31 March 2028.

About you

You will be a confident communicator, able to foster strong working relationships both within the DiSSCo UK programme and wider NHM Collection teams. You will thrive in team environments, supporting and driving your teams to success, with excellent attention to detail and problem-solving skills.

The role will combine technical digitisation expertise and people management. While beneficial, it is not essential that the postholder has previous direct management experience. We welcome applicants who may not have had formal line management experience previously, but are willing to learn and embrace building, developing and motivating a team.

This post will lead the Botanical section of Digitisers and Collection Assistants. The postholder will need substantial experience working with natural science collections, with applied botanical expertise and the ability to make informed operational decisions on specimen handling and workflow requirements.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum's values and forms the framework for the way we work.

Find out more on our website.

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures.
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events. We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.

Hybrid working is possible, with onsite supervision required during digitisation activity, around 3 days per week on average. This may increase in line with business requirements. Occasional work across other Museum or partner sites around the UK may be required.

How to apply

If this sounds like you, please apply below by clicking on Apply for job.

Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently.

Closing date: 23:59 on 29 September

Interviews expected: w/c 19 October

Please note that this role does not qualify for Museum sponsorship so the successful postholder will need to have a valid right to work in the UK at the point of offer.